MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
the downward scale to ruin; and the de¬ 
cline of that nation to barbarism is even 
more rapid than was her previous ad¬ 
vancement to civilisation. 
If, then, agriculture has so important B 
an influence on the condition of society, mi 
how important is the duty of the hus-^p: 
bandman! how responsible the position Q 
of the tillers of the soil! As agricultu- ® 
rists, what a mighty field for improve¬ 
ment does the world present to our 
view! As American farmers, what a 
field for operation is open before us!-— 
Stretched at our very feet is a vast in¬ 
terminable domain of uncultivated, 
though productive lands. Lakes and 
rivers, mountains and valleys, plains and 
deserts, prairie and wilderness, cover its 
surface. This broad expanse was crea-4^p 
ted for the abode and sustenance of 
man. It is to be peopled by the hu¬ 
man race, and cultivated for the sup¬ 
ply of their wants. Those barren deserts 
are to be converted into fruitful fields, and 
that vast wilderness is to blossom like the 
rose. The minds of its inhabitants, now a 
barren desert are to be cultivated and made 
fruitful with rich imaginings and aspiring- 
thoughts ; and the wilderness of passion, of 
superstition, and of ignorance which now 
prevails, is to be cleared away, and to be 
succeeded by plants of a more genial growth. 
To effect this desirable object is the work 
of the agriculturist. He is to be the Pio- 
neer in this work of reform. He is to lead 
in the execution af this noble enterprise.— 
The missionary of the Cross may be sent in 
vain to the barbarous nations of the earth; 
unless he be preceded by the .farmer, to 
procure a supply for their temporal, he can 
never administer to the spiritual wants of 
its inhabitants. The Bible may be publish¬ 
ed in a thousand languages, and sent to ev¬ 
ery kindred and nation and tongue under 
the whole heaven; unless the moral soil be 
prepared for the reception of seed, through 
the previous preparation of the natural and 
physical, it can never bring forth fruit to 
the glory of God. 
How then is the object to be attained? 
I answer, by the use of the same means 
that have been so successfully used on this 
continent for more than two centuries. — 
That little band of Pilgrims who first plant¬ 
ed themselves upon our shores, and com¬ 
menced the cultivation of this soil, laid the 
foundation of our .-present prosperity and 
greatness. That little cloud which arose on 
our eastern horizon, which at first was no 
larger than a man’s hand, has extended and 
spread itself into vast and formidable di¬ 
mensions; and with accumulated magnitude 
and increased rapidity is destined to spread 
itself over the entire surface of the New 
World. Not to obscure it in impenetrable 
darkness and gloom, but to shed upon it the 
halo of an imperishable glory and renown. 
Not to set up upon it the iron sway of tyrran- 
ny and despotism, but to diffuse the blessings 
of civil and religious liberty upon us all. Not 
to chain down the intellectual energies of 
its people, but to extend the blessings of an 
universal education over all the land. Not 
to compel us in our migrations over the 
continent to take the Indian foot path, or 
mount the insignificant pony or the mule, 
but to construct numerous iron bound rail¬ 
ways from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, 
upon which shall be mounted the gigantic 
steed, with teeth of brass and eyes of fire, 
whose nostrils pour forth fire and smoke, 
and whose power is sufficient to grasp the 
millions of our population and convey them 
with the speed of the wind over the land. 
Not to confine us in the navigation of our 
noble lakes and rivers, to the original bark 
canoe, propelled by the puny arm of man, 
and backed from one stream to another; but 
to connect their divided waters by artificial 
canals and launch forth upon their surface 
the majestic steamer, which being propelled 
by the generated power of the same ele¬ 
ment upon which it glides, shall sweep with 
the speed of an eagle over the bosom of 
the deep. Not to compel us in pressing 
emergencies, to pen down our thoughts upon 
a scroll or manuscript, and send them in 
cumbrous packages through the mails, but 
to permit us to transmit our very thoughts 
thro’ ethereal space with the velocity of light. 
Not, in short, in the least degree, to limit or 
embarrass the immortal energies of the mind 
of man, but to awaken the Deity that is 
within him, and and let the Spirit of Im¬ 
provement GO FREE. 
The wash of the drain from a farm 
house when well mixed with loam, is excel¬ 
lent manure. Loam will soon neutralize all 
the foul effluvia arising from the putrid 
waters.— Mass. Ploughman. 
Fi s .7. 
SURFACE LINE 
^ / ■ 
x" - • . i 
Miffllllliliil M 
Haggles, Nourse, Mason Co.s' Stubble Plow, No. 37. 
OF FLOWS AND PLOWING. 
[ Continued from last weeks paper.] 
It is a common custom with our farmers 
in plowing, to strive to get over the greatest 
possible breadth of land in a day, without 
regard to the best work. The furrows are 
too shallow, and they are cut as wide as the 
plow can possibly turn them, and often even 
wider, the deficiency in the plow being made 
up by the foot of the plowman, or else by 
the “ cut and cover systemand this gives 
the plow a very unsteady action; the fur¬ 
rows are very crooked and uneven; they do 
not match together at all well; the plow¬ 
man raves and scolds and whips; he as¬ 
sumes all sorts of attitudes, the team is 
chafed and fretted, and the whole matter is 
wrong. It is much harder work both for 
man and team to plow so, than it is to take 
nice, straight, uniform furrows. But this is 
not all the evil. The implements that fol¬ 
low the plow cannot do their work half so 
effectively as they would do if the plowing 
had been accurate and nice,—much less can 
they do what should have been done by the 
plow. There is no work in the whole round 
of husbandry that more demands the exer¬ 
cise of patience, precision and skill, than 
that of plowing,—none, where, by the exer¬ 
cise of these qualities, the farmer receives 
a better reward. That old worthy, Jethro 
Tull, in his honest enthusiasm used to say, 
There is a larger size, No. 38, adapted to 
deeper work than the plow here represent¬ 
ed. The surface line, Fig. 7, shows the po¬ 
sition of this plow in a seven inch furrow. 
The handles are of good length, though 
shorter than those of the No. 72 plow; the 
beam is high and arching; it is mounted 
with a short draft-rod and a dial-clevis, 
adapted to give the plow a wide range, both 
in landing and earthing. The perpendicu¬ 
lar height from the base line to the under 
side of the beam, immediately forward of 
the standard, is 17 inches, which enables 
the plow to make its way among rank stub¬ 
ble, corn-stalks, Ac., without choking. The 
fin-cutter is an excellent point in this plow. 
By makiug an easy, clean cut from the land, 
the furrow is not encumbered with clods of 
earth rolling down from the land side, as 
they are apt to do where the furrow is torn 
from the land by the breast of the plow.— 
The fin-cutter also lightens the draught of 
the plow. Fig. 8 shows the form of the 
mould-board, the position of the beam over 
it, and the position of the land-side. 
Fig. 9 is a pretty good representation of 
the work of this plow in stubble or old land. 
It is noticeable that the furrows are nicely 
laid for the reception of the seed grain; that 
the furrow-slice is all taken up and forced 
over to an inverted position and there it 
stays; and that the furrow-channel is en¬ 
tirely cleaned out for the reception of the 
Fiy-J o\jf 
that if land were thoroughly pulverized, 
manure would not be needed. He stated 
the case pretty strongly; but it is not stat¬ 
ing it too strongly to say, that however well 
land may be manured, the crops it is capa¬ 
ble of producing will not be obtained, unless 
it is well pulverised—unless it is reduced 
to that state of tilth that permits a free cir¬ 
culation of air and moisture through it.— 
Not the thick heavy clods, but rather the 
finely pulverised particles form the active 
portions of the soil. In whatever light, then, 
we view the matter, thorough pulverisation 
should be the aim of the farmer. Deep, 
narrow furrows are the best foundation for 
fine tilth. If the plow has failed to prepare 
this foundation in the best manner, no im¬ 
plement following in the cultivation can sup¬ 
ply the deficiency. 
Fig. 7 represents a land-side elevation, 
and Fig. 8 a plan of stubble plow, No. 37. 
PROFIT OF THE DAIRY. 
Mr. Editor. —Believing that facts and 
experiments are what are much needed by 
the farming community, I will give a little 
of my own experience of the profits of a 
dairy, and an experiment on the value of 
milk for hogs. 
In the spring of 1847, I had six cows, 
from which were fatted and sold seven 
calves. From the first of June to the fifth 
of July, five weeks, we made two hundred 
and forty pounds of butter. From the 
twenty-fourth of May, to the sixteenth of 
August, five hundred and eighteen pounds. 
We sold during the season nine hundred 
and sixty-three pounds of butter, and one 
hundred and seventeen gallons of milk. 
I purchased on the second day of April, 
one pig, weighing one hundred and two 
pounds, and on the 28th of April, two, 
weighing 135 and 125 pounds; one of them 
I slaughtered on the twentieth of Septem¬ 
ber, and weighed 280 lbs., having gained 
one hundred and forty-five pounds in one 
hundred and forty-five days, dead weight. 
The other two were killed on the second 
day of November. I received for the three 
hogs $44.19 more than I gave for them 
next furrow. It is impossible, however, to 
represent these practical matters exactly on 
paper; we can only represent them generally. 
Fig. 10 represents the work of an ap¬ 
proved sward plow in stubble furrows. It 
is not broad and full enough at the heel to 
clean out the furrow-channel. Then, too, 
after the furrow-slice has reached the per¬ 
pendicular position, there is not force enough 
in the mould-board to compel the slice to 
go over to its proper place, and as there is 
not cohesion enough in the slice to hold it 
together, a portion rolls one way, and a por¬ 
tion the other. The centre of. the furrow 
on top is therefore the highest, the furrow- 
channel is half filled up, and the work gen¬ 
erally will not compare with that done by 
the stubble plow, No. 37. The stubble 
plow No. 37 would not make nice work in 
sward-furrows; it would break them too 
much. 
in the spring. These hogs were kept en¬ 
tirely on the milk of my six cows; having 
received nothing else from the time they 
were purchased until they were killed; not 
even the crumbs that fell from their master’s 
table. I think that the manure pays for 
tending hogs. Now for the gross profits 
of the dairy. 
Butter sold, 963 lbs., at 21 § ets. per lb., $208.65 
Seven calves.. 44.85 
Milk, 117 gallons,. 12.74 
Increase on pork,.- 44 19 
Butter used in family, probably 75 lbs.,-- 16.25 
Cr. one calf purchased,. 
$,326.68 
1.25 
$325.43 
—Joel Edmonds, in the Mass. Ploughman. 
Valuable Salve.— A correspondent of 
the American Farmer, speaks in the very 
highest terms of the following salve for bad 
cuts, burns, Ac.: 
Elder Ointment for Burns, Cuts, Sores, 
Ac. After peeling off the outside bark of 
the elder, scrape off the green bark that is 
under, and stew it in lard till it is crisp; 
then strain it in a jar, and put it away to 
heal a blister or burn, or an old sore. 
SOWING CORN FOR FODDER,. 
Eds. Rural: — The March number of 
the Michigan Farmer chanced to come un¬ 
der my eye, to-day, at your office, and in 
examining its pages I noticed an enquiry 
from J. C. as to “ what kind of eorn would 
be best to sow for fodder, and how much 
per acre?” An answer to the question 
will doubtless be received from friends 
nearer home, and very probably one of 
more satisfactory character, yet I venture 
to volunteer one through the columns of the 
Rural New-Yorker. 
J. C. in his enquiry, refers probably to 
winter fodder only. But as there are two 
leading purposes for which the farmer sows 
corn broadcast, I will speak of both. In 
the vicinity of cities, where large ranges of 
pasture are needed and hardly to be ob¬ 
tained, corn is sown broadcast, for the pur¬ 
pose of soiling, for milk dairies, and for other 
large stock. It is also sown for soiling in 
the country, when an early drought has cut 
short the pastures. When sown for sum¬ 
mer soiling, therefore, the larger kinds of 
corn would be preferable, since much of it 
will be cut up for use, as soon as it attains 
half or two thirds its growth, no matter 
how rank, large, and luxuriant the stalks. 
Being green, juicy and sweet, cattle will 
consume it all so as to prevent any waste 
however large the stalks may be. For this 
purpose, therefore, I have found the “ large, 
eight rowed Connecticut eorn ” to be the 
most satisfactory. 
But when eorn is sown for winter fodder, 
I greatly prefer what is here called the 
“ Canada eight-rowed yellow flint,” And 
for two reasons. 1st. It requires three or 
four weeks less time to attain its full growth 
and to come to maturity, than the larger 
sorts. This, of course, will afford four 
weeks longer time in hot summer weather, 
to dry and cure after being harvested. And 
this is a most important item; for the great 
difficulty with sowed corn is, (being cut 
while it is green, sweet, and juicy,) to 
get it sufficiently cured, so as to be safe 
from mould and injury in the mow. And 
2nd. If sown sufficiently thick, it will run 
up a tall and slender stalk—much smaller 
in size than the larger sorts—of such size 
that cattle uniformly, and sheep generally, 
will consume them entirely; preventing loss 
from large stubs or butts. If the soil is 
good and suitable, and the season favorable, 
this sort will produce a great yield. It can 
also be sown for winter fodder, after it is 
ascertained that there will be failure in the 
crop of mowing grass. 
I have cultivated and used sowed corn to 
such extent, that I hardly know how suffi¬ 
ciently to commend it. Still I am con¬ 
strained to say, from an experience of many 
years, that I have hardly, if ever, found it 
sufficiently cured, to be free from the haz¬ 
ard of injury in large mows. Opposed as 
a good farmer should be, to stacking out 
his fodder, still the safer practice in regard 
to this kind may be, to stack it around a 
pole, as is done at the south. The centre | 
of the stack being always a little the high¬ 
est, and. the depth from the pole, being on¬ 
ly the length of the sheaf, so that the butts 
of every sheaf are exposed to the sun and 
air, the safety of the article is fully secured. 
If sown early, for winter use, it can be 
cut off in season for cross plowing the land 
for winter wheat. I know no better sum¬ 
mer fallow. Occasional rains and a dense 
shade keep the ground moist, and the sod 
is soft and decomposed, more than in a dry 
fallow. As to the quantity of seed per acre, 
I have used from two and a half to three 
and a half bushels. I think three bushels 
of the Canada flint, or three and a half 
bushels of the larger varieties, evenly dis¬ 
tributed, would be most satisfactory. 
Rochester, March 22. E. D. 
Long and Rotten Manures. —Were we 
not guided by experience, perhaps we should 
be led to imagine there would not only be 
a saving of the ammoniacal salts, phos¬ 
phates, Ac., by applying manure fresh to the 
soil, but that all soil would be equally ben¬ 
efited by being thus treated. Not so. The 
, chemical action of the manure will be 
equally efficacious on light and heavy soils, 
but this is more than counteracted by the 
injurious mechanical action. While unfer¬ 
mented dung will prove beneficial to our 
clays, half rotten dung will be efficacious 
to soils of a medium texture, and rotten 
dung to our light ones. Decomposed farm 
yard manure is no better adapted for every 
i soil than one man is adapted for every pro- 
I fession.— Agr. Gazette. 
FOOT-ROT IN SHEEP. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: — In your 
paper of January 23d, present volume, I 
find an article on foot-rot in sheep, and as < 
the disease seems to be prevailing through 
almost all parts of the United States, and 
many flock-masters being unacquainted with 
its nature, I think that something more ex- l 
plicit on the subject might be useful to t 
many of your readers. 
It spreads mostly no doubt by contagion,. < 
but it is often generated in the feet of sheep < 
which have not been exposed, when pas¬ 
tured on soft ground in summer, and < 
especially in a wet season. Also in winter, < 
when they have had the best accomoda- < 
tions, the horn of the hoof grows sometime < 
so as to lap under the sole of the foot, ac- < 
cumulating earth and filth,—and also be- < 
tween the hoofs, until an inflammation sets in < 
and the rot ensues; and if one sheep in the 
flock is infected with it, the others soon will < 
be, if it is not checked. It is recommended < 
by many good shepherds to trim the feet 
early in the spring, or as soon as warm < 
weather commences, with a pair of strong 
shears, clip off all the long toes—then re¬ 
move the filth from between the claws, and 
with a sharp knife, pare the hoof down level 
with the sole of the foot, and apply the 
same medicine that you would to cure the 
disease. 
Some think that the fine wool sheep are 
more subject to the loot-rot than other 
kinds,—as to that, I am not able to say— 
but I think that it was not known in this 
country till about 25 years ago, and was 
first discovered among the Saxonys, but I 
see no difference at the present day—all 
kinds seem to be afflicted with it. 
It is very easily cured in a single sheep, 
or in a small flock, but in a large flock, it is 
more difficult to remove, on account of its 
being so contagious. Blue vitriol will cure 
it at once, if faithfully applied, but there 
are several ways to prepare it. One is, to 
make very fine, 1 lb. vitriol, and add a ta¬ 
blespoonful of tar, and lard enough to make 
a stiff paste, and apply it with a small 
wooden paddle. But the vitriol is very 
hard to pulverize. I prefer the following: 
one gallon of strong tobacco water, made of 
one pound of good plug tobacco, well boded, 
skim out the leaves, and while hot, add 1 lb. 
blue vitriol, £ lb. copperas, 1 lb. alum, and 
when cold, add £ pint spirits turpentine.— 
The vitriol kills the disease, the tobacco is 
healing, the turpentine helps to penetrate 
every crevice, and the copperas and alum 
forms a coat like paint, and causes it to re¬ 
main the longer. 
In making the application, it needs two 
veiy active persons who have good eyes, for 
thorough work must'be made, or a cure 
will not be effected. A low bench for each 
to sit on, will be necessary,—one catches the 
sheep, carefully setting it on its rump, takes 
his seat, bringing the back of its head to 
his breast and trims the fore feet as above 
mentioned. The other is seated at the heels 
and takes the hind feet. If a foot is dis¬ 
eased, it willjbe warmer at the heel than 
usual, and have a disagreeable smell, yet 
perhaps, no sore be discovered. But apply 
the medicine faithfully to every foot, with a 
small sash brush, not only between the 
claws, but on the sole and sides, and to the 
top of the hoof. The sore first appears be¬ 
tween the claws and near the heel, and 
eats in, under the hoof, and, unless every 
particle of loose hoof is removed, so that 
the vitriol can come in contact with the 
sore, the disease remains. There is no need 
of wrapping a cloth around the foot; should 
all the hoof be taken off it will do better 
without. Such application should be made 
four or five times, five or six days between, 
and the sheep put on clean, dry ground. 
No doubt where many are to be doctor¬ 
ed, a box might be constructed to advant¬ 
age as Mr. Jewett recommends, but sheep 
are very uneasy when on the back. 
I would refer the reader to several arti¬ 
cles and authors on the subject, in that 
very useful book, which every shepherd 
ought to possess, viz., the “ American 
Shepherd,” by L. A. Morrell, pages 376, 
392 and 394; also, the Albany Cultivator 
for 1845, page 386, and for 1848, page 
322. J- s. w. 
Ulysses, N. Y., March 22, 1851. 
He who lives disorderly for one year, 
does not enjoy himself tor five years after. 
